It’s a little late now but what I should have written on the eve of the EU referendum result was The Spanish Ayes Have It. Or perhaps Chirac bedazzled by Those Spanish Ayes. Or possibly neither.

I think I experienced today a good example of the Spanish pride/nobility I cited only yesterday. En route to my morning coffee, I was approached by a man whose opening line was ‘Excuse me, Sir, could I ask you to do me ……’ Taking him to be one of Pontevedra’s several beggars, I started to walk on but then turned to check if he was only asking for directions. His response was a withering look of scorn and a dismissive hand gesture, which clearly said ‘Hell will freeze over before I sink to begging from someone as rude as you’. As he moved off, though, I thought I saw his nose fall off his face.

One of the great things about Spain is that there are still many ‘old-fashioned’ shops where products aren't bundled in threes, fives or tens. The upside of this is that you can buy just one screw or whatever. The downside is that there are no barcodes to read and so the sale has to be entered into a book. If you have several items, this can be a slow process as the catalogue numbers all have to be found. But, of course, the real delays arise when there is a computer monitor next to the till.

WordWatch

Recent Spanglish sightings:-

Un slip - Men’s underpants
Un mailing – Email
Soso – Insipid

And I’m indebted to a leaflet that was stuck on my windscreen for these activities, which presumably take place under a fire sprinkler:-

Aquajogging

Aquaerobic

Aquagym

Aquastep